What Happened next?:Death of Dr Ogden
by TheOtherMissOgden
Summary: This story shows the last scenes of 18th episode and the events following them. You'll get to know if William and Julia will eventually marry, if the Inspector survived and what will happen to George and Emily's relationship. Writing this story I used some information from the season 8 teaser. Everything belongs to Murdoch Mysteries.
1. Chapter 1

_Some information about this story:_

_The idea of this story was cooking in my head ever since "The Death of Dr. Ogden" aired (some scenes even before that), but I had no time to write it earlier. Now I'm posting chapter 1, before the 1st episode of S8 airs, but later chapters will come in a few weeks. Then, I'm going to publish them regulary (for instance every second day)._

_I added some scenes from the real "Murdoch Mysteries" series. There are scenes from the last episode of season 7 and from season 8 teaser which I saw on youtube, so yes, there's a lot of spoilers here. Yet, scenes from season 8 are slightly changed. Of course all the dialogues which were not written by my are in italics._

_**Huge thanks to Ethelfreda, who not only corrected this chapter, but she's also teaching me a proper English - she's really amazing!**_

_Sure I'd like to own Murdoch Mysteries, but sadly I'm not that lucky..._

* * *

Detective William Murdoch was talking with Julia's father's sweetheart. Now that he discovered all of the circumstances connected with Dr. Ogden's death, there was just one more thing he wanted to know.

"_Mrs. Hill if I may... would you do it again?"_

"_He was suffering"_ answered the old lady.

"_Em, that's not exactly what I mean... If you had your life to live over again... would you make the same choice?"_ he looked directly into Mrs. Hill's eyes waiting for her to answer and reflecting about all the bumps in the road and decisions which both Julia and he had to make during all those years of their acquaintance.

"_I married my husband, because it was the wise decision, the sensible decision... If I could do it over again... I would take a chance on love."_

Having confirmed what he had already suspected, Murdoch smiled to himself. Sometimes he would find his investigations somehow related to his private life. This time Mrs. Hill's words, were just the ones he needed to hear. Not that he had ever doubted that love was the most important thing in the world, no. But sometimes he just needed an impulse, something to make him certain that what he was doing and feeling was right. He got up from his chair.

"_Detective?" _asked the old lady.

"_My investigation is finished Mrs. Hill. I'm very sorry for your loss."_

"_Thank you" _Mrs. Hill's voice was cracking with emotion and her eyes were full of tears.

Detective Murdoch walked away. His heart was finally at peace. He was not able to determine why this conversation had had such a good effect on him. All he knew was that he needed to talk with Julia; he needed to be close to her. He couldn't let her become distant, like she did after Darcy's passing, not again.

Julia was standing on the shore of the lake, looking at the horizon. She saw William coming, but scarcely looked at him, lost in her thoughts.

"_He was in love with another woman I never knew"_ she said eventually still not looking at him.

"_We don't contemplate our parents keeping secrets."_

"_How could he hide that passion all those years? It's extraordinary, don't you think?"_

'No, I don't. Just think about it, Julia. Haven't _we_ been hiding our passions for a long time?' those were the words which came to William's mind, but instead he said:

"_They waited Julia... They waited to be together until it was almost too late."_ Knowing that those words had double meaning Murdoch was afraid to look directly at Julia. He wanted to finally propose to her. He wanted to marry her and be sure that nothing would separate them ever again. But how could he propose to her now? She has just lost her father and learned a difficult thing about his past. It was just not the right moment, let alone the fact, that he didn't bring the engagement ring with him.

Julia suddenly looked at him. The real message incorporated in William's words struck her. He was not talking about her father any more, at least not only.

Feeling Julia's eyes on him, Murdoch couldn't resist expressing his feelings.

"_I, I don't want just a few months or happiness... I want a lifetime."_

All the thoughts about her father were gone. The only person occupying Julia's mind was William. She turned towards him and without thinking twice about it she said in a firm voice:

"_Ask me again William."_

He was shocked and a bit disoriented, but very, very happy. He turned to her and took his hat off. Looking into her eyes and smiling brightly, he said.

"_Julia Ogden, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"_ he asked taking her hands in his. His voice was shaky and his eyes welled with tears.

Julia stepped a bit closer to him.

"_William Murdoch, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?"_ her voice was shaky too and the tears were almost running down her cheeks.

"_I will."_

"_And I will. Very much I will!"_ she added just before hugging her fiancé tightly.

Both William and Julia were smiling broadly enjoying the happiness they were experiencing making them forget about the world around them. A moment later they pulled away a bit, just to make their lips meet for a long, breathtaking series of passionate kisses. When they stopped to catch their breath, they looked into each other's eyes.

"I feel like I'm in a dream William!"

"So do I, but this time it's not a dream, it's reality, Julia."

"Yes it is!" she said, and then they got lost in another series of kisses.

Just before pulling away William moved his hand from her back to her neck, and then gently caressed her cheek.

"I haven't told you often, but I love you Julia. You mean the world to me and there is nothing more important to me than being with you and seeing you happy."

"Oh William, I love you so much! Much more than I will ever be able to express. I don't care about anything as long as I have you by my side."

They shared one more tender kiss and then Murdoch said:

"Let's get back to the city. In the Station House, I have something that has been waiting for you way too long."

"William! Do you mean..."

"Just go with me and you'll see" cut William

* * *

After quickly collecting their things William and Julia sat in their carriage, as it bumped along the roads to the Station House. Sitting very close to each other, the couple was talking all the way to their destination and the smiles on their faces didn't fade even for a second.

"I cannot tell you how happy I am to know we will soon be officially engaged, Julia."

"Me too William. But we've wasted too much time to spend too much time enjoying our engagement. I am aware, that my father has just died, but now I know he wouldn't want it to be the reason to delay our wedding. I want to marry you as soon as possible."

"I understand and I agree. I don't want to wait any longer." he answered teasingly."Do you want to start planning the party already, Doctor Ogden?"

"Do not joke like that detective. And actually, I would very much like to discuss who we are going to invite."

"That will be my pleasure. I take it you want to invite all your family and your friends from the university."

"To be honest William, I want to marry you in front of our friends. People who are close to us, who have always wished us well."

"No family then?"

"Well, I'd like to invite Ruby of course."

"Of course. I can't imagine not inviting her."

"Can't you detective, really" now it was Julia's turn to tease her sweetheart "I thought she annoyed you."

"Yes, but no more than she was annoying _you_. All in all, she always wanted us to be together and annoying or not, she is now close to both of us, isn't she?"

"Yes she is... What about you? Who do you want to see on our wedding?"

"The Inspector, George, Dr. Grace of course, and maybe a few constables from the Station, if you don't mind, Julia."

"Wouldn't you like to invite all the men from the Station? They all witnessed both our happiness and distress. I must say, I consider them my friends too."

"I'm glad to hear you say that Julia. I will be very happy to invite them."

"Shall we do that now, William?"

"Do what?"

"Announce our engagement and invite them to the wedding?"

"There's nothing that would make me happier. I want the whole world to know that you're my fiancée now."

"Indeed I am!" having said that Julia laughed softly and leaned toward him for a kiss.

"We are almost there" protested William yet, without much conviction.

"I know. I just want one more kiss from my handsome fiancé..."

* * *

William and Julia passed a few constables who were surprised to see the couple on the Station at such a late hour.

"George, could you please call and check if Dr. Grace is still in the morgue? If she is, tell her to come here directly" said Murdoch just before entering his office.

"Right away, sir."

William closed the door and pulled the blinds down.

"Now, Julia" he said reaching into his drawer and bringing out a silver box "It has been waiting for you ever since you left to Buffalo. Even hidden in my drawer it was always yours and only yours." Murdoch opened the box and took the ring in his hands "And now let me put this ring where it always meant to be."

For a few seconds Julia was too touched to say anything, but after a while she managed.

"Oh William! It's so beautiful, thank you!"

"Don't thank me Julia. You have no idea how happy it makes me to finally see it on your hand."

"I believe I do" she whispered before hugging and kissing her fiancé once more.

"I think Dr. Grace has arrived. Are you ready to share our news with everybody?"

"Of course I am."

"Let's go then."

* * *

"_Everyone, everyone, listen up!_" called Murdoch climbing a chair "_Quiet please, I've got an announcement to make!_" Emily who was standing next to Julia immediately gave her an inquiring look, full of surprise.

"_Pay raises all around, lads!"_ joked constable Higgins

"_Very good!" _chuckled William "_Um... Dr. Julia Ogden and I intend to marry!"_

There was a loud cheering from the constables and Dr. Grace hurried to see the engagement ring on Julia's hand.

"_That's right, that's right. It will be very soon and you are all invited!"_

"_Certainly took long enough_" said one of the constables under his breath

"_Sir, congratulations!" _exclaimed George hugging his superior and friend.

"_Thank you George."_

"_It's wonderful!"_ constable Crabtree was very happy for his mentor

"_Well done, sir"_ now it was Henry Higgins' turn to give his congratulations

"_Thank you, Henry."_

"_Detective!"_ constable Jackson who has just run into the Station House; looking terrified.

"_Ah, Jackson, you missed the big announcement!"_ Murdoch was so happy he didn't notice panic in his co-worker's voice

"_Detective, you're needed."_

Now William understood that something really serious must have happened. Jackson didn't say anything more, just took Detective's arm and run out the Station. The two men were followed by Dr. Grace, Dr. Ogden, constable Crabtree and a few other men. What they saw in the alley made their blood run cold. Inspector Brackenreid's body was lying still on the ground. His face was massacred and covered with blood.

"_Sir!"_called Murdoch

"_Oh my God!"_ Julia was no less affected than the policemen

"_Inspector!"_George Crabtree voice sounded hysteric

Dr. Ogden checked Brackenreid's pulse to see if he is still alive. The ring on her left hand shone in the light of a streetlamp, but no one noticed. Everyone was just hoping that the Inspector was alive. That was the only thing that mattered at the moment.

"_Sir!"_ shouted William

"_Inspector!"_ repeated George

"_Sir!"_ Murdoch was despaired now _"Sir!..._ Julia..." the man looked at the doctor beside him imploringly "I beg you Julia, please tell me he's alive!"

"William I didn't feel the pulse.. I..." she put her hand on Inspector's neck once more

"No, no, no he can't...!"

"Wait! I can feel the heartbeat!"

"Thank you Lord" muttered Murdoch with relief.

"Quickly, fetch the carriage! We have no time to lose. He must get to the hospital immediately!" Julia commanded.

"Henry bring the carriage. George call the hospital and tell them that we're going to bring them the Inspector. Say that he's unconscious, he has been severely beaten, has broken bones and probably internal bleeding." William was himself again

"Right away, sir!"

"Now, Julia, Dr. Grace, tell me what you want me to do."

While waiting for the carriage to arrive, Detective and the two doctors tended to their friend.

* * *

"Will he live, Julia?" Murdoch was asking as if he was afraid of the answer he might get.

"I don't know, William" sighed Julia "I honestly don't know. I wish I could tell you he will be all right, but his injuries looked very serious to me. On the other hand he will not give up. He will be fighting. Now, all we can do is pray."

"I feel I could have prevented it."

"But how, William? He was on his way home, on his usual route. How possibly could you have known that someone (we don't even know who), was planning to beat him to death? You have to rest. Go home, William."

"I can't Julia. Someone has to inform Mrs. Brackenreid."

"And you want to do that?"

"It's my duty. The Inspector is my superior, and my friend. I cannot send one of the constables to do that for me, I just can't."

"Then I shall go with you."

"But Julia..."

"Don't argue with me William. I want to be there to support you. And what's more, Margaret may feel better having a woman close to her. A woman, a psychologists and a friend."

"What would have I done without you?"

"Shhhh... From now on I'll be always there for you, always."

* * *

William and Julia exchanged glances just before knocking on the door of Brackenreids' house. The task before them was difficult and unpleasant, but at least they had each other's support.

"Detective, Doctor! Please do come in, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?" the inspector's wife opened the door herself and led her guests to the living room. "Take a seat, please, I'll order tea straight away."

"That won't be necessary Margaret" said Murdoch his voice somehow betraying his feelings. "Please, do seat down, we have to talk to you."

"It's Thomas, isn't it?" Margaret was thankful that the armchair was just behind her so she could let herself fell on it. "Is he... is he... dead?" she finally managed to whisper.

Julia immediately rushed to her side and gave the lady a handkerchief.

"No, no, Margaret, he is alive" reassured William quickly.

"Thank Goodness!"

"Although your husband had an accident... He... He was beaten and now he is in the hospital."

"Have you seen who did it?"

Murdoch just shook his head.

"But you know who he is, Thomas has told you, hasn't he?" Margaret's voice was full of panic as if she knew the answer to her question, but was still hoping to be proved wrong.

"Margaret, Thomas was beaten quite severely, he was unconscious when we found him" said Julia.

The woman just stared at her friend trying to read the answers from her face.

"I won't lie to you, because if I were you, I would like to know the truth. His injuries are of a very serious nature and even under the care of the doctors at the hospital his future is uncertain. He was alive 30 minutes ago, when we left him, but I cannot promise you, that he will survive the night."

"I must go to him!" Margaret didn't burst into tears as one could expect, but suddenly composed herself, looking very determined.

"He is unconscious, there is no way you can help him now."

"So what should I do? Sit at home and wait until they call me to say he's dead? No. I have to be near my husband. Thankfully the boys are visiting my mother at the moment, so I shall go directly."

"Let me at least escort you to the hospital, Margaret." said Murdoch.

"No thank you William. I'm grateful that you came here yourself and didn't send a constable instead, that was very good of you. Now you should go end rest, I shall be fine."

"I will take you there, if you want to go."

"Yes I do, and you can accompany me if you insist, Julia"

"Let's go then."

* * *

_Please leave me a review, I looove reading them!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Here it is - chapter two. I'm sorry it took me so long, but you know how it is... if I had nothing to do I would have written fanfiction all day long, but I do have some other occupations:)_

**_Big thanks to my hero - Ethelfreda who puts a lot of time and efford to make this readable and to teach me proper English!_**

_Last BUT NOT LEAST thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following, and asking me when chapter 2 will be up - you all give me energy to continue this!_

* * *

A splitting headache was the first thing she become aware of after she woke up. It got even worse when Julia reminded herself of the events of the previous evening. She didn't even know if the Inspector was still alive! ...Well, he had to be. William would be one of the first to know if something happened and he would have surely telephoned her. She decided to call the hospital anyway.

The nurse told Julia that the inspector was still unconscious. "Neither better nor worse, Doctor" were her exact words. Putting the receiver down, Julia noticed the ring on her left hand. So it wasn't a dream? She was really engaged to William now? Though she was still terribly worried about the Inspector, Julia felt that her headache was gone.

'How can I be so happy and so sad at the same time?' she asked herself. 'My father died, then I finally got engaged to the man I've loved for so long, and now one of my closest colleagues is fighting for his life. What a mixture of different feelings life given me...'

* * *

William Murdoch did not fall asleep even for a second. After watching Julia and Margaret getting into her carriage he went home, washed up and laid on a bed. Two hours of tossing and turning convinced him that he wouldn't be able to sleep. He dressed himself and tried to read, pray or think of a new invention, but nothing worked, he just wasn't able to concentrate on anything knowing that his friend was fighting for his life.

At six in the morning Murdoch arrived at the hospital wanting to to check on his friend before going to the Station. Entering he saw the inspector's wife asleep in an armchair.

"Margaret" he said gently touching her arm "Margaret, you should rest, please go home."

"William" she was surprised "I cannot, I can't leave him now, he needs me, he..."

"He will need you to take care of him once he's better. I'm sure Thomas wouldn't want you to exhaust yourself like this. Please Margaret, go home, I'm going to stay with him for a few hours."

"If you insist, William. But if something happens..."

"You shall be called directly."

"All right then, thank you detective."

"You have nothing to thank me for."

Margaret got up from the armchair and walked towards the door. She stopped for a while looking at her unconscious husband once more. Her eyes welled with tears and after saying good bye to the Detective, she quickly exited the room.

William was lost in his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door and turned to see doctor entering the room.

"Detective Murdoch, a nurse told me I could find you here. My name is Dr. Greenwood and I'm taking care of our friend" said the young man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Doctor, how can I help you?"

"I just thought you might want to know that we didn't find anything that could lead us to the offender. Inspector Brackenreid was beaten and kicked severely, but it's possible that the attacker used some kind of weapon, a piece of wood or a metal pipe perhaps."

"Thank you Doctor, I appreciate your help."

"If it weren't for Dr. Ogden and Dr. Grace, I would have been helping you in a murder investigation now. Their expertise as well as quick transport to the hospital saved your superior's life."

"So he will live then?" William's voice was full of hope

"I can't promise you that. The only thing I know is that without the help from his friends, he would have already died. On occasions like this, I only wish we had more and better organized ambulances."

"Yes Doctor, so do I... Well, I have to go to work now, but thank you for your help."

"Good bye, detective."

"Good bye, doctor."

* * *

William was at the Station a few minutes before 8 o'clock and most of the constables were already there.

George launched himself at Murdoch as soon as he saw him. "Have you been at the hospital, sir?"

"Yes I have, George" he answered with a sigh

"And..?"

"They still don't know if he will survive, but it appears that Dr. Ogden and Dr. Grace saved his life."

"I must say I've hoped for better news, sir."

"I know, George, but we must be grateful that he's still alive and concentrate our efforts on catching the attacker."

"Of course. But it is so sad. When he was leaving the station, he told me he wanted to change, be less violent, become more of a intellectual. He was going to surprise Mrs. Brackenreid by taking her to dinner, and now... Anyway, is there anything you want me to do, sir?"

"Yes. You will go to the hospital and call the Station every hour to report on the Inspector's condition. After 4 hours I'll send another constable to replace you."

"Right away, detective."

An hour passed and George telephoned to say that there had been no improvements in the inspector's health. Murdoch took this message calmly, but with resignation. Looking around the Station House, he noticed that it was overcrowded. A lot of constables showed up just to see if they could be of any help. The problem was that all of them were too shocked to do anything. Everyone was disorientated and worried and William couldn't blame them, because he didn't know what to do himself. It all seemed like a terrible nightmare it was just too cruel to be real!

* * *

"May I come in, Julia?" asked Murdoch knocking to Dr. Ogden's door.

"William! Is the inspector... has he..." she was scared

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. He is still unconscious, but alive."

"Thank Goodness! So what brings you here William, shouldn't you be at work?"

"Chief Constable Giles appeared at the Station about 10 o'clock and told us to go home. We have only a few constables left on duty, but for today, the Station is technically closed. No one was able to work properly after what happened. Tomorrow the new Inspector will arrive and we will begin to search for Inspector Brackenreid's attacker."

"I can only imagine how that must have affected you even I can't concentrate on my duties today."

"You saved his life, you know? You and Dr. Grace. Your treatments at the scene made him survive the carriage ride to the hospital."

"That was the least we could have done..." she sighed.

"You are such a wonderful woman, Julia" he took her hand and felt a metal object on her finger. They both looked down at the engagement ring and smiled.

"Is that why you came, William? To check if I had changed my mind about marrying you?" she allowed herself to forget about the inspector for a while

"Interesting idea, Doctor, but apparently, I came to do this" and with that Murdoch kissed his fiancée tenderly yet not without passion.

"Mhm... Was that the only reason for your visit, detective? To share _one_ kiss with your fiancée?"

"You don't think that to be sufficient?"

"Not really."

"All right, then" William smiled and pulling Julia into a very tight grip, kissed her once more, this time with much more passion.

"Well that's what I call a good reason for a visit!" said Julia playfully when she finally caught her breath.

"Yes... but to be honest, I didn't come here only to kiss you, Julia."

"That is what I thought, William" she was serious again "What brings you here, then?"

"I was hoping to talk about our wedding."

"Oh, of course" she gave Murdoch a sad smile. She knew that in the current situation, an immediate wedding is out of question. It would be months before William will be ready to prepare for their nuptials.

"I don't want to postpone it longer than necessary" his words struck her.

"You don't?"

"We have waited long enough, Julia. As soon as the inspector's better I want to marry you. We can have our wedding reception later, but we've wasted too much time to wait any longer."

"William..."

"That is not all. I want us to make the best of our time before the wedding. Last year we were... we had a few terrible arguments, do you remember?"

"Of course I do" Julia dropped her eyes in embarrassment.

"I don't want us to argue like that when we're married. Of course we will have arguments... but they shouldn't be about the past. I think there are some things that need to be explained before they become the subject of an argument. Do you agree, Julia?"

"Yes, William, you're right. You probably want to know why did I..."

"I want to start, Julia" cut Murdoch. "Can we go to the park and talk?"

* * *

Once seated on the bench beside a tree William looked at Julia and began.

"Last year you told me I could have stopped you from marrying Darcy."

"William, I really understand why you didn't, you don't have to..." she said putting her hand on his.

"Please let me speak, Julia. It was not the first time I decided against acting. I let you leave to Buffalo and didn't try to bring you back."

"Well, I must say I was sad you didn't even come to say goodbye."

"I did."

"You did?!"

"Look at your left hand, Julia. On the day go went to Buffalo I went to the jeweler."

Julia gasped.

"I was waiting for him to open, he was a bit late. I purchased the ring and hurried to the morgue to propose to you, but you were already gone."

"And you gave up?"

"No, I didn't, I rushed to the station. I don't think I ever cycled faster than I did then. When I entered the station the only thing I could see was the train disappearing on the horizon. That's when I broke down."

"Oh William, I should have known you wouldn't let me go without saying goodbye. I had hoped to see you at the station I secretly hoped you would stop me from leaving."

"And that was what I intended to do."

"But why didn't you catch the next train, why didn't you even write to me?! Why did you write 'best regards' instead of 'love' when you answered my letter?!"

"I wanted to do all of that, Julia. I wanted to go to Buffalo, to write to you, to say you how much I love you..."

"But...?"

"I thought that... maybe you didn't really want to be with me, that you didn't love me as much as I loved you."

"You doubted in my love?! William, had I loved you less, I would have stayed in Toronto."

"I know that now, Julia, but then I just thought you might be happier without me."

"We've lost so much time because we did not speak about our feelings openly."

"That's why I wanted to talk with you, to make it clear once and for all, and to finally stop hiding our emotions... I was too shy from the start. It took me ages to eventually ask you to dinner."

"I could have encouraged you more too. After all, I've always found you very attractive."

"Mmm... I've always thought that it was my infuriating logic and impressive detective skills that made you fall in love with me, Doctor."

"I told you once that some women are attracted to men who are both intelligent and physically attractive."

"Yes, I can remember. The 'intelligent thugs'."

"I've never found it to be very good description of you."

Both William and Julia laughed and smiled to each other. Their minds drifted to the times when they were still no more than colleagues, but already felt attracted to one another. After a while Murdoch asked, "Why did you leave?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"Why did you go to Buffalo, Julia? Why didn't you just tell me about the consequences of your abortion earlier, and give me some time to acknowledge the situation? It seemed as if you wanted to leave me without giving me a reason."

The young woman looked into the teary eyes of her betrothed and tried to blink away her own.

"It's complicated, William. It was breaking my heart that I couldn't give you the only thing you wanted. It was something you deserved and I couldn't stand taking it away from you..."

"Detective, Doctor!" constable Crabtree appeared out of nowhere "I'm sorry to interrupt you, I have some news about the inspector and I thought you might want to know them too."

"It's good that you've come, I told you where you would be able to find me for a reason, what have you, George?" the couple instantly forgot about their conversation, fearing that the news they're going to hear will not be the good ones.

"He is in kind of a crisis now" Julia subconsciously took Murdoch's hand "but the doctor said that the next 24 hours will bring the answer – if he survives, he will live."

"Thank you George for bringing the news personally. Let's hope the inspector will not give up easily..." said William with a sigh.

"He is strong, he will be fighting" Julia was trying to comfort both the policemen and herself.

"Thank you, Doctor..." the usually cheerful George Crabtree was now looking as if he wanted to cry "Well, I should be going. Good bye detective, doctor."

"It's time for me to go too, Julia" said Murdoch after the constable walked away. "I should visit the inspector in the hospital. I won't have time for that when the investigation begins."

"Of course. I'm going to check on Margaret after I finish work."

"Thank you."

"I'm doing it for her. We became friends after the kidnapping of young Bobby and I can't imagine not supporting her now."

"She's lucky to have you, we both are. Good bye, Julia"

"Good bye, William." Murdoch was already walking away, when she stopped him and said:

"Thank you for coming here today, for being with me, and talking to me. It might be painful at times, but we should have explained each other some things long time ago. This was a very good idea to talk about it before we're married and I hope we shall continue this conversation. I too have some things I want to tell you."

"Of course, Julia... I love you so dearly. You know that, don't you?"

"I do. And I love you too William."

The couple kissed very softly on the lips and then Murdoch walked away to the hospital and Julia returned to her office to finish her work.

**TBC**

* * *

_Please leave me a review - constructive criticism is as welcome as words of encouragement:)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for all your lovely reviews for chapter 2. I hope you'll enjoy this one._

_**As always huge thanks for Ethelfreda for correcting the chapter and supporting me!**_

* * *

It was the evening of the same day, when William, Julia and Margaret were sitting in the hospital room together. It's been hours since the crisis began and there was still no sign of improvement.

"It's very late William, you really should go home now" said Julia after the clock chimed midnight.

"I can't. I just can't leave my friend now."

"The best thing you can do for him, is to catch his attackers, and you cannot do that after two sleepless nights. You have to go to bed." she was persistent

"Yes, go William. I'm very grateful for your presence and support, but I understand you have your duties. Thomas would have sent you home straight away, if only he was conscious" added Margaret with a sigh.

"I know all of that, but I really cannot leave now."

"You have a very good heart, William... The boys wanted to come here too, you know. John was really persistent about that, but I refused."

"But why Margaret?" Murdoch seemed a bit surprised

"The boys are still very young and I don't think seeing their father like this would be good for them. What's more if they were here I would have to keep an eye on them and I can't manage taking care of them right now, it's just too much." Margaret's eyes once more welled with tears.

Julia squeezed her friend's hand reassuringly. She wished she would never have to go through what Margaret was enduring right now. She saw William injured more than once and last year, for a moment she thought, he had drowned. Those seconds were the worst in her entire life. Worse than struggling for breath when she was buried alive, worse than the moment she heard the judge sentence her to hang for the murder she didn't commit, worse than feeling the touch of the rope on her neck.

It was only comparable to the moment when she saw the body of a dark-haired young man near William's church, just after he had gone missing a few years ago. But then she didn't love him as much as she did now, and she could only imagine what a nightmare it would be for her to sit and watch the love of her life fighting with death as now was Margaret.

* * *

"It is almost six in the morning Margaret and I believe I have to go now, if I don't want to be late for work" said William getting up from his chair. They still didn't know if the Inspector would live and even for Murdoch that uncertainty was unbearable.

"Of course, William, thank you for being here. Thomas is lucky to have you as a friend" despite her voice cracking, Margaret was not crying. One look at her was enough to tell she was suffering, but she did everything to conceal the emotional torment he was feeling and appear calm.

Detective Murdoch exited the hospital very worried about his superior. He hadn't lost faith yet, but it was harder and harder for him to believe that this story would have a happy ending. Not knowing how and when, he got to his house where he washed and changed. At the Station, he spent almost an hour trying to move on with the case, but with no result. A quarter past eight Chief Constable Giles arrived and all the men gathered around him to hear what he had to say.

"As you all know, Inspector Thomas Brackenreid was brutally attacked two days ago and is still fighting for his life in the hospital" began the man. "As you're also aware this Station House has been left without an inspector. We've been debating about it and after serious consideration we have decided to nominate Detective Murdoch the Acting Inspector" he said passing William a badge. "You can of course promote one of the constables to an Acting Detective, if you need Murdoch, and you can count on the other station's help with taking over some minor cases. From now on..." the chief constable was again addressing all of the men "your highest priority is to catch Inspector Brackenreid's attacker or attackers. No one can harm a policeman and remain unpunished, is that clear?"

Everyone just nodded.

"I expect to see those bastards caught within days and stand trial for their crimes. We will show them that attacking a police officer will not be tolerated! That is all for now. Go and do your duties, you should not rest until you have the perpetrators in custody." and with that he left.

"If I may, sir" said Constable Higgins after Giles disappeared behind the main door "I'd like to say what we all think. We are very glad that it's you who is our inspector now. We couldn't stand anyone else taking inspector Brackenreid's place under the circumstances." There was a loud rumble of consent from the lads.

"Thank you Henry. I'm glad to know I have your confidence, because we have a difficult task before us. I will probably need you to work longer than usual, but I won't spare myself either. Go back to your duties now. Constable Crabtree, come with me to my office, please."

* * *

"Do you want me to take your things to the new office, sir?" asked Crabtree once he closed the door behind himself.

"No George. I am not going to move. The inspector's office should remain untouched until he comes back."

"Yes sir, of course." Constable met his superior's eye for a second and looked down. They both knew that the inspector's return was not certain, but refused to acknowledge it.

"I am going to work both as an inspector and detective now, and I'll need you to remain a constable, however from time to time the situation will require you to be a detective. Here is your new badge, George – use it whenever you need it."

"Thank you very much for having confidence in me, sir"

"I would have promoted you to an acting detective, but I'm going to need you as a constable as well. There are things in this case that can't be entrusted to Henry, despite his latest improvement. You're going to be my right hand as you've always been, but this time it will require much more work from you."

"I'll be honoured to help you as much as I can."

"Good. Now, I need all the constables to check the archives from the last 20 years in search for everyone who has ever threatened the police."

"20 years is a long time, sir."

"Yes, but we can't take any chances George, this case is too important. You and Henry will look into the inspector's cases, dating from ten to five years ago and I'll check those from the last 5 years. We are looking for anything that could bring us to the attackers. Oh, and send someone to ask people if they saw something. It's not very likely, but even though we should try."

"Of course. May I suggest one thing, sir?"

"Naturally, what is it?"

"I think we could ask Dr. Ogden to help us to determine whether the attacker wanted to harm the inspector specifically, or just any policeman."

"Thank you, George, that's a very good idea indeed... And one more thing, it's attackers, not attacker. I thought it over and now I'm sure we are looking for at least 2 people. The Inspector is a strong man and one person could not overpower and injure him so easily."

* * *

A soft knocking on the door woke up Julia, who didn't manage to stay awake and dozed off half an hour ago.

"Good morning Margaret, Julia. I had the morning off, and I was wondering if I could be of any help here." Dr. Grace stood in the doorway looking at her friends.

"It would be lovely if you could stay with me for a while, Doctor" said the inspector's wife. "Julia you've been here long enough, go home and have a rest before work."

"You should go home too, Margaret. I know you didn't sleep at all last night."

"I won't leave until I'm sure Thomas will live, Julia. Don't try to convince to go home. We both know that you would do the same, if it were William in that bed."

"Are you sure you will be alright, Margaret?"

"Emily will keep my company, don't worry about me."

"I'll see you later, then. Good bye." Julia was feeling guilty about leaving her friend with someone she didn't know very well, but on the other hand she was totally exhausted and longed to spend at least a few hours in bed.

* * *

It took quite a long time before Julia's maid finally said that her mistress was on the line.

"William?" he heard very sleepy voice of his fiancée "Do you have any news about the inspector?"

"No Julia. Did I wake you up?"

"You did, but that's fine, William. I was with Margaret until eight this morning when Emily came, and I decided to go home and sleep for a few hours before my afternoon shift at the asylum."

"I'm sorry, Julia. I should have known you were sleeping. I am glad you were able to get some rest."

"Not unlike my fiancé, who apparently hasn't been asleep for two nights... How are you coping?"

"It's very busy here. I'll tell you everything later, but now I wanted to ask you for help."

"Naturally. What do you want me to do?"

"It's about the inspector. I want you to look at his injuries and tell me if the attackers wanted to harm him, or just any policeman. I'd also like to know something about the killer, any information you can provide will be helpful."

"You want me to create some kind of psychological profile?"

"Yes, that is if you have time."

"You know that I'm always glad to help you and don't forget that the inspector is my colleague as well. Right now I can tell you there was more than one assailant and they most probably targeted Brackenreid. I do not think this was a random attack at a..., but, I will go and look at his injuries after I finish work."

"Thank you, Julia, that will be a great help."

"You're welcome. It was nice to hear your voice, William."

"Yes, it was nice to hear you too, but now you should go back to sleep and I have to continue my investigation."

* * *

"Margaret, Margaret, wake up." Dr. Grace gently touched her superior's wife

"What is it Emily?" Mrs. Brackenreid has finally fallen asleep in an armchair.

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I have to go to work now and I didn't want you to wake up and see I was gone without saying goodbye."

"Oh I see... Thank you for staying with me..." it was more than clear that the woman didn't want to be left alone.

"I really have to go, but if there's anything I can do..."

"No, thank you, I'll be fine."

"I will call you after work to see how you're faring."

"Thank you, Emily it's very kind of you."

"I only wish I could stay with you, Margaret."

* * *

Margaret was watching the clock's hands moving slowly for almost an hour. She didn't want to show her weakness in front of other people, but now, when she was alone, she began to slowly break down and it was harder and harder for her to blink away the tears. She was about to give up, when she heard someone coming.

"John! What are you doing here?!" she was so shocked to see her older son in the hospital that her face had gone white and she looked as if she were going to collapse.

"Please, sit down mum, you must be exhausted" John helped his mother to an armchair.

"How did you get here? Do your grandparents know that you're here? I told you to stay with them. You should have..."

"Please calm down, mother. I telephoned grandma from the station. I... I had to come. He's my father and you cannot keep me away from him. I'm not a child anymore. I came here to be with my father and take care of you."

Margaret was shocked. Her little Johnny didn't sound like a child any more. He was speaking like a grown up man.

"Your father would be so proud of you, Johnny!" those were the only words she managed to say.

"He will have many opportunities to feel that way once he's recovered. And he _will_ recover" ha added firmly, seeing the expression of uncertainty on his mother's face.

"Oh John, I'm so glad you're here" said Mrs. Brackenreid hugging her son.

Mother and son spent a couple of hours talking quietly. John told Margaret how he had tried to convince his grandparents to let him go and then, when despite his efforts they didn't change their minds, he stole the money from them and bought a train ticket to Toronto.

"I know I shouldn't have stolen the money and I intend to give it back" he explained "but I know that coming here was the only right thing to do. Before I left, I made Bobby promise, that he won't follow me. He was trying to be brave, but he is still a child."

* * *

It was already four a.m. and Inspector Brackenreid had a high fever and was delirious. The woman and her son were quietly praying for him to survive, but they slowly begun to lose hope. It was much more than twenty-four hours since the crisis had begun and there was still no sign of improvement. Suddenly the inspector became silent and still.

"John. John! John is he.. dead?!" asked Margaret almost crying

"He's lying still..."

"No, no! Thomas, no! Don't leave me!"

"Shh, shhh..."John was hugging his crying mother, trying to comfort her. Tears were running down his cheeks, but he was not sobbing. The pain he was feeling was enormous, but he knew he had to be strong for his mum. Still holding her he looked once more at the body of his beloved father. Suddenly he noticed something... Yes! He was breathing!

"Wait here, mum" he said just before running out of the room and leaving his mother completely flabbergasted. After a short while he came back with a doctor, who quickly examined the inspector and said:

"The crisis passed, Mrs. Brackenreid. You husband will live."

* * *

_**TBC**_

_Reviews always greatly appreciated!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Yes, so it has been over a month since I posted chapter 3. I'm very sorry for that, but I was simply too busy with my college work. However, it's more than probable that the next chapters will be posted soon (well, I suppose it depends what you understand by 'soon'...) Anyway, thank you all very much for your reviews and for staying with me despite this awfuly long breaks between chapters._

_**As always I want to thank Ethelfreda for correcting this chapter.** She corrected it extremly quickly, it was just me, who had no time to post it earlier._

* * *

_They were both standing on the shore of the lake. He was holding her hands and smiling at her._

"_Julia Ogden, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" he asked_

_Smiling at him she had just opened her mouth to answer him when a loud gunshot ripped through the air and Julia fell to her knees. He caught her in his arms and noticed she was bleeding profusely from her chest. Holding her tightly against him he wept with fear and anger._

"_No Julia no! Don't leave me now! Do not die!"_

"_Yes, William. I will marry you" she said and with that she died._

_Then he heard a devilish laugh which he knew all too well._

"_Poor Julia, what a pity I had to kill her" James Gillies was coming towards him "she was such a beauty..." Murdoch's greatest enemy was laughing again but his laughter slowly changed until it sounded more like a telephone ring than a human's voice._

Detective Murdoch suddenly opened his eyes. He was in his office and the clock in front of him showed it was five. It seemed that he slept with his head resting on a desk all night again and despite the fact that his body was aching, he felt relieved to find it had only been a nightmare. In reality he and Julia were engaged and James Gillies was dead but for some reason, he could still hear that sound. The phone! Detective Murdoch quickly picked the receiver up, although he was still very sleepy and didn't quite catch everything the nurse told him and he irritated her by asking that she repeat the message for a second time.

"I said that inspector Brackenreid has gone through the worst and he will recover" repeated the woman. "Now if you please Detective, I have some important things to do" and with that she hung up.

Murdoch sighed with relief, his prayers has been answered and the Inspector had survived the crisis. He wanted to call Julia instantly to share the news, but then he realised that he would wake her up, so he decided to continue looking through the files instead. After reading the contents of a few folders he felt disheartened. He got up from his chair and went to the restroom to wash his face. Feeling a little bit refreshed he thought how good it would be to drink a cup of coffee. He still was not a great fan of this beverage, but he knew it would make him think more clearly. Energized by rather disgusting dark liquid, William decided to go to his superior's office to continue searching for clues there.

He looked into the first drawer in the Inspector's desk. The first drawer he opened held two items, a bottle of an expensive whiskey and one folder and when he saw the name Brackenreid wrote on the cover, he knew he was on the right track. The name O'Shea was all too familiar to him and it was filled with information about the man.

"I should have thought about it earlier! It's so obvious. When he left the station after the interrogation he was furious with Brackenreid and a man like O'Shea would settle the score on way or another. He probably asked one of his friends for help and they attacked the Inspector together." William muttered angrily to himself and began to read the dossier. He found out that Mick O'Shea had a brother, who could have helped him with the attack. It was seven thirty when Murdoch finished reading the file and decided it was a good time to call Julia.

"William, you are at work already?!"

"Well...

"Never mind. I'm sorry I didn't call you yesterday, but I finished my work at the asylum very late and went straight home, but I promise I'll go to the hospital today then stop by the station to share my findings with you."

"That's fine, Julia. I'm not calling to rush you" William smiled subconsciously "I have good news about the Inspector. The nurse called me two hours ago and said he would be fine."

"Oh, William, I'm so relieved! I was beginning to lose hope."

"I must admit it didn't look too good to me either, but now we can relax, everything will be fine."

"I wouldn't call conducting very important investigation a relaxing."

"True... About that, Julia. I think I know who attacked the Inspector."

"You do?!"

"Yes. I found Mick O'Shea's files in Inspector's drawer and I'm almost sure of his guilt. He has a brother who probably was the second attacker. However, I'd very much appreciate if you could help me determine if he's capable of this while you are here."

"Of, course, William. I'll come during my lunch break if that's convenient."

"Very well. See you later then."

'_Very much to the point, as always'_ thought Julia. _'But he has always been like that, once he really concentrates on the case, I can forget about knowing looks and playful smiles, but later..._

* * *

"Sir!" George came in just a second after Murdoch hung up "Have you heard about the Inspector?"

"Yes, George, I worst is over and he should recover fully, and what is more, I think I finally know who attacked him."

"Sir?"

"Mick O'Shea with the help of his brother."

"Now as you say it, it seems so obvious."

"Yes. I want you and Henry to find everything about the brothers. Childhood, jobs, family, habits, everything you manage to find out."

"Right away, sir!"

Murdoch sat down on his chair again and got lost in his notes from the 'Jubilee Singers' case, taking special notice on everything connected with the brothers. Once he did that, he went through the files from the Inspector's desk once more until a knock on the door brought him back to reality.

"Julia! You're here already?"

"It's almost two o'clock, William" she said smiling

"Two o'clock? I must have lost track of time. Anyway, what have you?"

"I'm just coming back from the hospital and although the Inspector is still unconscious his life is no longer in danger. The attack on him was extremely brutal and it's almost a miracle he survived. The injuries confirm your theory about two attackers and from what you have discovered it is most likely the Inspector was not an accidental victim."

"Thank you, Julia, you've been most helpful. Before you leave, would you mind looking at this?" he said passing her his notes which he was taking just before she came.

She read them all carefully and after closing the file she said,

"I can't tell you anything for certain, but it's more than probable that the O'Sheas are your perpetrators. From what I've seen, the attackers used a chain and something that could be a shovel - things that can be easily found at the docks."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome... I've brought something for you, William."

"It was not necessary, Julia" said Murdoch unwrapping the paper

"It's just a sandwich. A piece of a hot meat put between..."

"Two slices of bread, I know. George was fascinated by these some time ago."

"It is not very good for your stomach, but I had no time to make anything healthier, and it's still better that nothing. I presume that you not only sleep in your office, but also refuse to acknowledge, that human body needs to be fed."

"You know me all too well, Julia... But did you say you made this sandwich yourself? I thought you don't cook?"

"Well I do..."

Chief Constable Giles' appearance stopped Julia from finishing the sentence. She left the Station and went back to the asylum, while Murdoch familiarized his superior with every detail connected with the investigation.

* * *

"Constable Crabtree... I'm sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to ask if there's any news about the Inspector." Emily spoke shyly as she approached George, who was sitting by his desk and going through some files.

"Dr. Grace, I wasn't expecting to see you here! That is... It's good you've come, Doctor. Inspector Brackenreid is still unconscious, but he'll be fine."

"Thank God! That must be a huge relief for Margaret, I can only imagine what she's been going through" The young doctor accidentally put more meaning into this phrase than she actually intended. After a short awkward silence she said: "Are the rumors true? I've heard Detective Murdoch was promoted to an acting inspector."

"Yes he was, we are all glad that it was he."

"Indeed. But who is going to take over his duties as a detective? Surely even he can't manage doing both jobs at the same time."

"Actually that is exactly what he intends to do, however he gave me the detective's badge so I could use it if need be."

"I'm so proud of you, George! You truly deserve it" she said spontaneously, forgetting that it would be better to address him 'constable' now.

"Why, thank you Emily. Yet, I think I would have enjoyed it more under different circumstances..."

"Of course... Oh, but you must be terribly busy now! Please forgive me for taking so much of your time, constable."

"It was nice talking to you, Emily." said George honestly.

She went back to the morgue with a light heart. Not only was the Insoector getting better, but also there was a glimmer of hope that her relationship with George can be renewed some day.

* * *

'_That was a very hard, long day_' thought Murdoch getting up from his chair. He spent hours writing some letters and arranging different things as an acting inspector. All of that was boring and tiresome, and what's more it drew him away from the investigation.

William went home, where he washed and changed. Coming back home everyday didn't make much sense now, so he took some clothes and returned to the Station House. All the cells were empty because the other station houses had taken the prisoners in order to relieve Station number four from some of the duties.

Lying down on the pallet William was feeling depressed. He wanted to think about Julia, just to calm down and feel happy at least for a while, but as soon as his eyes closed, he fell asleep into a long, dreamless sleep.

_**TBC** (hopefully sooner than later)_

* * *

_Thank you very much for reading. If you want to make my day, leave me a comment, if you don't, that's fine too - I'm every single pearson reading this makes me unbelievebly happy!_


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